A Marriage Most Inconvenient (Inconvenient Matches Book #1)

Chapter 40: Winter & Seraphina

'She's been going where?!' Winter asked Carlisle, who was lounging leisurely in a chair at their club, nursing a drink.

'Madame Dumont's,' Carlisle gave him a bored shrug as if he hadn't just delivered the most apoplexy-inducing news Winter had ever heard.

'You're lying.'

'Very well,' Carlisle just took a casual sip of his drink and continued to watch Winter with his unnerving, feline gaze.

Why the devil was his-was Seraphina going to a damned brothel?! One as damn notorious as Madame Dumont's?!

The bordello was famous for its bacchanals, and for catering to the whims of any client, no matter how strange. Winter swallowed thickly. And it was also one of the few establishments in the city that offered services to women. His grip tightened on the arm of his chair.

'Personally,' Carlisle continued, swirling the amber liquid in the cup. 'I don't think it's any cause for alarm. This would hardly be the first time Miss Macleod did this sort of a thing.'

Winter choked on his response.

'What sort of a thing?' He asked when he could manage it, jealousy roiled in his gut at the thought of anyone aside from him getting their hands on her. He dispelled it just as quickly, because though he did not think Miss Macleod was the sort of woman to visit a den of sin and debauchery like Madame Dumont's; even if she was, he was no saint himself. The things he had done -and had done to him- would make even a gentleman blush. Instead, he decided to level an irritated glare at his friend. Now that Winter thought about it, Carlisle had had a habit of speaking in riddles and half-truths even in their youth. That particular habit had gotten them both into and out of a great deal of trouble at Cambridge. 'Cut the horse shite, Carlisle.'

'You're no fun, Graham.' Carlisle gave an exaggerated pout and took a long sip from his glass. A muscle ticked in Winter's jaw from how hard he had it clenched. 'I only mean that this is likely one of Miss Macleod's crusades. Every now and then some poor soul in need of rescue will reach out to her and off she goes.'

'What are you talking about?'

'You know, a whore who wishes to leave the life but fears the retribution of her taskmaster, a wife who wishes to leave a violent husband, that sort of thing.'

A panic sound escaped Winter's throat.

'She does these things alone?!'

'Well, legally the Sanctuary cannot intervene between a married woman and husband. Nor can we afford the notoriety by getting involved in feuds with the powerholders in the flesh trade.' Carlisle looked at Winter as if he was stupid. 'Do you even know the amount of work your mother has put in to give the Sanctuary a respectable veneer? For years most people of our society wouldn't ever have willingly spent their blunt on an institution that rehabilitates whores and fallen women. Oh, and their bastard-born children.'

'And so, she acts by herself, enabling these women to reach safety without directly involving the Sanctuary.' Winter said, understanding dawning simultaneously with dread. 'Christ almighty. This woman is going to be the death of me.'

'She's hardly the only one,' Carlisle frowned at him, as if disappointed. 'Even your mother has involved herself in a clandestine operation or two. There's just too much evil, too many innocents in need of saving. It's like pushing water out of a sinking ship with a teaspoon.'

Winter gawked at Carlisle in horror. His mother was flittering around town getting herself involved with all sorts of shady characters?!

The women in his life were mad, and they were going to take him right along with them.